LAHORE: Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research Syed Fakhar Imam has said that new support price of wheat aimed at making the crop more profitable for the farmers, will be announced soon.

He said farmers and agriculture are the backbone of the country; introduction of track and trace system of certified seeds will help increasing the per acre yield, Fakhar Imam said while addressing a one-day Farmers Convention on "Production Campaign for Wheat" organized by Punjab Department of Agriculture, MNS Agricultural University Multan and Fatima Fertilizer Group the other day.

Addressing the participants of the farmers' convention, Punjab Agriculture Minister Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi said the target for wheat cultivation in Punjab this year has been set at 16.7 million acres while the production target has been set at 22 million metric tonnes. Under the prime minister national agricultural emergency programme of Rs 300 billion subsidized varieties of wheat seeds and other agricultural inputs are being provided to the farmers to increase wheat production per acre at a cost of Rs 12.59 billion, he added.

The provincial minister said that the Punjab government had issued Kissan Card for providing direct subsidy to the farmers in case of cash transfer under which more than 500,000 farmers have so far registered for the Kissan Card.

Vice-chancellor of the MNS Agriculture University of Multan Prof Dr Asif Ali said that the university has always made every effort for the welfare of the farmers and will continue to do so in the near future.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021